I was in Target yesterday when I walked by the pool section...and kept right on walking. It dawned on me that this is the first summer in almost a dozen when my summer's pleasure hasn't been all wrapped up in...swim goggles.
Join me on a walk down memory lane:
--The screaming and wailing when pool water seeps into sub-par goggles and my kids' eyes threaten to shrivel up and fall out as if burned by carbolic acid.
--The pile of rejected goggles deemed so because of poor suction, cheesy "Dora" motifs, or that certain je ne sais quoi understood only by the annoying toddler/kid set.
--The attempts to negotiate so that one kid will give the other the "good" goggles for the entire summer because otherwise he/she (okay, HE!) will not dangle a toe in the pool without them. "Would $5 work for you, honey? Because it would work for me."
--The secret nighttime shopping trips trying to stock up on exact duplicate goggles just in case the "good" goggles disappear.
--The threats: "Under no circumstances may you come home from the pool without these goggles. Do you understand? Shoes? Who cares? Sibiling? Meh. Do NOT lose these goggles!"
--The gripping fear, as August and beach-time looms, and the rubbery band of the "good" goggles starts to slacken, thin, and threaten to break.
--The attempt to broker a new goggle purchase as August winds down. Which, I must say, is like trying to buy a Compass and Protractor set in June. Yes, I have tried both.
But this summer? Nary a mention of goggles, good, bad, or otherwise. I am relieved. I am happy. The world seems full of promise and possibility. The kids frolic in the neighbors' pools without any protective eye wear whatsoever. This observation is something I note inside my gray head, but I dare not mention to them.
Because I haven't a stinkin' clue where the "good" goggles are.
